The GRR Framework: Guided Instruction
Further Exploration of what Guided Instruction is:

Guided instruction is the time when the cognitive load begins to shift from teacher to
student (39).

The teacher’s role changes as he or she follows the lead of the learner who is attempting to
apply the skill or strategy to a new situation (39).

Guided instruction necessitates the use of small groups through cueing, prompting,
scaffolding, and questioning (40).

Instruction is not the same for every group during guided instruction (40).

Guided instruction is not ability grouping (40).

Guided instruction groupings change frequently due to ongoing formative assessments
(60).
Key Features of Guided Instruction:

Dialogue between teacher and learners is carefully crafted following the principles of
scaffolding (41).

Effective scaffolding requires that the teacher possess expert knowledge about the cues
themselves and the level of knowledge they likely represent (42).

Guiding question teacher asks while working with small groups: “What does this answer tell
me about what he knows and doesn’t know?” (42)

By scaffolding her prompts, the teacher has the opportunity to test her hypotheses and
thereby gain a better understanding of what the child knows and doesn’t know (42-43).

Another key feature of guided instruction is that it is based on formative assessment.
Students are grouped and regrouped based on their performance (43).

In the GRR model of instruction, the use of formative assessment is critical (45).

Guided instruction provides teachers with an excellent opportunity to differentiate
instruction (46).
o By content
By text level
o By number of problems to complete
Vary the rate (to excel or to re-teach)
K. M. Smith
GRR: GI def
2/18/2016
Instructional Strategies for Effective Guided Instruction:
Guided Reading (48-51)

GR is an instructional approach where small groups of similarly performing students meet
with the teacher to read new text.

Students are purposefully groups according to their instructional needs and are taught to
apply reading processes they are learning to novel situations—in this case, unfamiliar books.

The teacher uses what she has learned during the guided instruction time to develop the
next lesson for this group.

Often, at middle and high school levels, guided reading groups meet to address literary
devices, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and critical literacy.
Guided Writing (51-54)

GW involves the teacher working with small groups of students, based on their assessed
performance.

During GW students apply what they have learned from focus lessons with varying
degrees of support from the teacher.

During guided writing, teachers often use sentence or paragraph frames. These frames,
models, or templates help students internalize conventional structures.
Student Think-Alouds (54-56)

The goal of student think-aloud it for students to uncover their own thinking processes as
they learn and understand a concept.

Teachers can prompt with “Tell me how you understand ________________.”

The teacher needs to have students think about their thinking!
Misconception Analysis (56--58)

In history, mathematics, and science instruction for secondary students, meta-analysis
yielded:
o Teachers must know and anticipate misconceptions students possess about the
concepts being taught.
o Educations must teach for factual knowledge in a systematic way
o Students must be taught to be metacognitively aware of their learning.

Thus, critical for content area teachers to be focusing on thinking and how that thinking
came to be to increase students’ control of the content. (KMS)
K. M. Smith
GRR: GI def
2/18/2016